Miracle
by The Devils Song
Summary: For QA's One-Shot Contest. A girl who can't forget. A boy who can't remember. The story of hope and miracles. Even if your mind doesn't remember the people you love, your heart always will.


**Miracle**

My condition was rare.

I could remember everything. Everything I saw, heard, tasted, felt or smelt was embedded in my brain. Since the age of six I haven't been able to forget the faded green of my bedroom walls, the smile lines on my teachers face and the sound of birds in the morning.

His condition was rare too.

He could not remember past a certain date. He had taken a stab to the head one day, so each day we had to explain to him that it was five years into the future, but he always thought it was October 5th 2012. Each day we had to explain to him who our son was.

"Dr Mikan Hyuuga?"

I turned around and saw a fellow collegue at the facility I work in. I study people who have amnesia, short-term and long-term memory-loss. "Yes?" I asked.

"Your husband will see you now."

I smiled at her. "Thank you. Any progress?"

She shook her head and apoligised before walking off. I entered the room my husband lived in, seeing him hugging his knees on the couch. Silent tears ran down his pale cheeks, the way they always did in the morning.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered to me as I sat next to him. He says this every morning, but to him it was only the first time. Each time he teared himself apart, my heart broke along with his. "We have a son, they said. His name is Youichi." He looked up at me, crimson eyes full of pain. "Can I see him?"

I smiled gently at him, a hand on his shoulder. "Of course, Natsume." I reached for my phone and called my sister, Hotaru, asking her to bring him in.

The door opened and our five-year-old son walked in, already used to this. "Daddy," he said as he walked over to Natsume. He reached his little arms up and Natsume put his legs down, welcoming our child into his arms for, to him, the first time.

"I'm so sorry, Youichi. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Daddy," he said. "It's not your fault."

We spent time together, the way we always did. We walked around the gardens, we played games and we told stories. We showed Natsume our photo album, pointing out where each photo was taken. And at the end of the day, Hotaru picked up Youichi.

My husband and I lay in bed, arms around each other's waists and legs tangled until I didn't where I ended and he began.

"Natsume, you still look as beautiful as you did when I first met you." I pushed the hair out of his eyes. "Even if your mind can't remember that, I know your heart always will. I love you."

He sighed. "Mikan, I love you. I can't believe you stood by me all these years, even though I don't remember what you do for me. I know that my heart remembers how wonderful and supportive you've been. I just wish my mind did, too."

I smiled at him. "You know, since your not going to remember anyway, I'm going to tell you a secret."

Natsume raised an eyebrow at me. "What secret?"

"When I was younger, I used to tell everybody the same thing. You know what I told them?" He shook his head and I giggled. "I would say, 'When I grow up, I want to be a unicorn.'"

Natsume laughed, a deep rumbling sound, and even though he would forget about his happiness the next day, I prayed that he would find more. 

* * *

><p>"Dr Hyuuga?"<p>

"Yes?" I asked from my desk, still staring at some paperwork. It was one of the few days I couldn't spend with Natsume, so he was with Youichi and his best friend Ruka.

Nonoko, another collegue, announced, "Mr Hyuuga has had some progress."

I jumped up immediately. "What?"

"It's nothing big," she said, seeing the hope in my eyes. "But he remembered something. According to Mr Nogi, he asked him, 'Where is Youichi?'" When I was about to interrupt, she held up a hand. "No one told him about his son."

"My God," I whispered. "This is amazing!" I leaped over my desk and hugged Nonoko before sprinting towards his room. The door was open when I got there and I found Natsume holding Youichi's hand and talking to Ruka. "Natsume!" I called, making him turn his attention to me. "You remembered him?"

He stood up, smiling brigether than the sun. "Yes. I remembered him." I squealed, jumping into his arms and kissing him. Five years of no progress and he was finally beginning to remember! It was a miracle. 

* * *

><p>May 17th 2025.<p>

Utter chaos filled the house.

People ran back and forth, carrying long tables into the backyard and as many chairs they could find. People dodged the ladies holding platters of food, heading towards the makeshift buffet table. Children cleaned and blew up balloons. And it was all for one reason.

Natsume was finally coming home.

He hadn't regained all his memories, no. He most likely never would. He remembered Youichi, but only from the day before he began remembering eight years ago. He remembered who a few people were, ones he had forgotten. Then all he could remember were bits and pieces of scattered information. Winning a game of scrabble, the soccer grand final and that stupid thing I told him about wanting to be a unicorn.

It was only ten minutes to the time he was supposed to arrive, and everyone had finished decorating. His favourite red hibiscus flowers dotted the house and all his favourite foods were lined on the buffet table. Red and black streamers hung in random places and a big GO MANCHESTER banner hung on the door to the backyard. All his friends and family were there, in our house, waiting for the door to open. I spent thirteen years waiting for doors to open just to see him, and now I would no longer have to.

Then he emerged.

Jovial cheers chorused throughout the house the minute he stepped inside. Old friends ran up to give him hugs and his elderly mother sobbed on his shoulder. His sister whacked him on the arm before hugging him and his neice clung to his leg for dear life. Natsume and Youichi hugged for a while, the little boy crying more than he had when he was born.

And then he saw me.

Natsume walked forward and crushed me to his chest so tightly I could hardly breathe. My hands grabbed weakly onto the back of his jacket, crying just as much as he was. He pulled back and kissed me with such force it made my heart jump. Another round of cheers broke out as we pulled back.

"Thank you, Mikan," he whispered. "Without you, I don't think I ever would have gotten this far."

I smiled at him, tears still falling. "You know, I can never forget seeing you so vulnerable day after day for thirteen years, but I'm so glad that I'll always remember your smiling face for the years to come."

"You were right," he said. "My heart did remember. Thank you, Mikan. Thank you."

I couldn't have wished for a better miracle. 

* * *

><p>AN: Hello! This was for QA's One-Shot Contest. Yay! I can't believe I finished on time. I actually had been writing another story for the competition, but I ended up thinking of this instead. Short, but sweet and meaningful. It's also for all the people suffering from amnesia and memory-loss out there. Even if your mind doesn't remember the people you love, your heart always will.

DISCLAIMED: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

Review please. Good or bad.


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